The mechanism of meiosis in Drosophila melanogaster is well understood in some aspects, poorly in others. In the latter category is the process by which homologous chromosomes come together to synapse during the early steps of the first division. There are two currently competing hypotheses regarding the mechanism of synapsis. This work will, in part, be devoted to the design of critical experiments to ascertain the valididy of one - the chromocentral hypothesis, vs. the other, the distributive pairing hypothesis. In addition, new chromosome types in the general category of compound chromosomes will be synthesized, as a means of providing new tools for the study of meiosis in particular, and the general promotion of research Drosophila genetics.